Do You Get It? Part 2

Tuesday afternoon. I had endured a lousy Valentine’s Day and things had not improved from there. I headed out for a run. All the way around the track I kept going over and over, what else can you do God? I’ve lost everything; my life was in complete disarray; are you even listening?



I headed back to the building at door break and was greeted by the sweet voice of “Ivana” – my name for the rather attractive, dark-haired, Eastern European CO that works our building. “Heh, bed 96; you are vanted at de Majors offixe.” The Major; Head of Security. That is never a good call


Without showering, I put on my state blues and headed to the office. I walked in and saw the lead investigator. “The Major called me,” I said.


“No, we want to talk to you.” By we, he meant all three investigators.


“Do you know why we wanted to talk to you?”


“Well, I haven’t finished pledging a gang yet; I haven’t gotten any new tats; and you haven’t accused any of my visitors of sneaking in contraband; so it must involve the law.”


Point of information for the readers – investigators have an uneasy relationship with inmates. They rely on dirt from snitches to go after someone. Second point, they don’t call you to their office without having the snitches info in hand. Point three; they had my legal work from a snitch.


“You’ve been doing work all over this compound. That’s illegal.”


“Only if I charge. I read the manual.”


“You do charge (hands me a stack of my notes on a case).”


“I don’t charge. I wrote that guy telling him he had no case. I said I can’t help him but if he’s so hell-bent on wasting my time he might as well send me fifty dollars.”


“So you do charge?”


“No, because the guy has no money and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”


On and on it went for forty-five minutes. Could I go to the hole? They threatened, but probably not. It was intimidation pure and simple.


Funny thing is, the college program keeps me so busy I don’t do legal work anymore.


Still, I was off balance. I had never had a problem with the investigators. Now I’d been snitched on. All around the compound guys were saying “G.E. snitched out lawyer Larry.” My reaction: You made your point, God. I get it.


Things could be worse. I’m living alright in here. I hate what’s become of my old life, but I learned a valuable lesson. Isaiah 43:2 says “when you walk through the fire you will not get burned”. The point: we all go through afflictions and trials. They’re difficult and don’t make sense, but they are inevitable. I need to stop asking why and just patiently trust.


It’s been a couple of tough weeks. I’ve learned a lot the hard way. I’ve seen dreams die, my heart break. Still, I was reminded God’s there and He’s listening. I need to be careful what I’m saying.